We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Austin Davis. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Austin below.

Austin, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is my new book, LOTUS & THE APOCALYPSE, which was published by Outcast Press on March 1st, 2022. LOTUS & THE APOCALYPSE is a poetry novella that tells the story of the last day on Earth as Lotus tries to figure out what the point of life is before it’s too late. The poems in this book act as chapters that tell this narrative through meditations on mental illness, addiction, guilt, loss, love and more.

I wrote this book during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic as I struggled heavily with OCD, depression and anxiety. Writing this book allowed me to get all the bad thoughts and fears out of my head and on to something tangible, that I could look at learn from, and separate myself from.

Above all else, I hope that having these conversations might encourage others to seek help, and my biggest goal with this book is to help people in our community feel less alone in what they’re experiencing by being honest in my poems about my own struggles. We’re all moving through this life together, and we should try to take care of each other in whatever little ways we can.

You can find LOTUS & THE APOCALYPSE on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or wherever you usually get your literary fix!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Austin Davis and I’m a 22 year old senior at ASU studying creative writing. I’ll be graduating this spring! I lead Arizona Jews For Justice’s homeless outreach program, AZ Hugs For the Houseless. I’m also a poet. I started writing poetry when I was a kid. For me, poetry is like detective work. It starts with me having a question, or not understanding something about myself or the world around me. Writing for me is exploring these complexities. I write a lot about my battles with mental health, my work with those experiencing homelessness, social and political issues, and love, of course, since I’m a bit of a romantic, haha.

For anyone out there reading this, I’d just like to say that these last few years have been difficult on everyone, and all you can do is your best. Be kind to yourself. Take a breath and be still for a moment. It’s okay to need a little help. Writing LOTUS & THE APOCALYPSE showed me what I needed a little help. It showed me my fears, and what I wanted to work on about myself. LOTUS is radical honesty. It’s about being truthful with yourself and your community about your struggles, faults and shortcomings so that we can all grow together.

Above all else, with my work on the streets and with my poetry, I aim to champion a movement of love and empathy, where we strive to take care of each other and look out for those we love, those in our community, and ourselves, one day at a time. Let’s move forward, together, friends!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When I was writing LOTUS & THE APOCALYPSE, I really wasn’t doing well. This was during the first year of the pandemic, and I think we were all feeling the stress of uncertainty and loneliness. I started to sleep less, self medicate, and not take care of myself. It kind of felt like I was climbing a mountain, and I knew I’d be able to rest soon, but I got so tired, I just let go and started free falling. I remember one night I texted one of my best friends. I asked him if he’d make sure LOTUS made it out in to the world if I died before then, because it was my best work, and I hoped it could help some people who were feeling like me feel less alone in what they were going through. But I finished the book, got healthy, and I couldn’t be more grateful! Writing this book was like squeezing my brain out like a dirty sponge and letting the dark water pool over the page. It was truly therapy to write it, and I hope that reading it can help some people in our community in their time of need too.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My overall goal is to be a friend. I want to use my experiences, struggles and the lessons I’ve learned in life to help others in whatever they’re going through. Whether it’s by being honest in a poem and helping someone else feel comfortable about being honest too, or by just simply listening to someone in need, I believe that treating those around you with love and empathy can be lifesaving and world changing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://msha.ke/austindavis/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/austinwdavis1
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/austin_davis17

Image Credits
Matt Smith, Miranda Williams, Nathan Buckingham